1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tray assembly for use on a vehicle seat back, e.g., on the rear surface of the front seat of an automobile, whereby passengers in the rear seat may utilize the tray for placement of coffee, sandwiches, etc., thereon. The invention is usable in various vehicles, such as automobiles, buses, railroad cars, and aircraft.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,433 to Kramer, et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,878,945 to E. Speir disclose foldable tray assemblies mounted on the rear surfaces of automobile front seats. The tray assemblies can be folded or pivoted to relatively flat conditions against the seat rear surface when the trays are not in use. The purpose is to retract the tray against the seat rear surface where it will not be struck by the knees of persons seated in the rear seat. Also, the retracted tray assembly will have less tendency to be an obstruction when a person is entering the rear seat area of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,503,602 to W. Titley, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,680,523 to G. Heeter, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,107 to D. Miller show non-foldable automobile tray assemblies. Straps or hook structures suspend the tray assemblies from the front seats of the vehicle. When not in use, the tray assemblies are removed from the vehicle seats and stored in the vehicle trunk or elsewhere outside the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
The present invention is concerned with a vehicle tray assembly of the foldable or retractible type, i.e., a tray assembly of the general type shown in the Speir and Kramer, et al. patents.
A problem with foldable vehicle tray assemblies mounted on the rear surfaces of vehicle front seats is that the tray assembly should not project too far down along the seat rear surface. Leg room in the rear seat areas of most automobiles is somewhat limited and adult persons seated in the rear seat of a vehicle have their knees in near proximity to the rear surface of the front seat. Therefore, if a foldable tray assembly is to be mounted on the rear surface of the vehicle front seat, its lower edge should be above the point where the person's knees are located when in a normal seated position.
Another factor to be taken into account in the design of a foldable tray assembly is driver visibility. The upper edge of any tray assembly mounted on the rear surface of the vehicle front seat should not extend above the upper edge of the vehicle seat back. Any undue upward projection of the tray assembly above the upper edge of the seat back could interfere with the driver's rearward vision through the rear view mirror. The present invention relates to a foldable, retractible tray assembly for mounting on the rear surface of a vehicle front seat, wherein the lower edge of the tray assembly is elevated a sufficient distance from the vehicle floor that a person seated in the rear seat is unlikely to have his/her knees come into contact with the tray assembly. The tray assembly has an upper edge located at or below the upper edge of the back portion of the front seat, whereby the seat assembly does not interfere with the driver's rear vision.
While the tray assembly is designed to have a relatively small vertical dimension when the tray is in its retracted condition, yet when the tray is in its prone or generally horizontal operating position it should have sufficient area as to be reachable by a person seated in the back seat. The invention provides a retractible tray assembly which poses minimal interference to rear seat passenger comfort when in the retracted condition, and yet achieves a desired degree of accessibility when in the extended service condition.